CPJ Impact

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2012

CPJ launched the Journalist
Security Guide recently, which provides reporters with concrete steps to
minimize the dangers of digital and physical reporting. In the guide, Danny
O'Brien, CPJ's Internet advocacy coordinator, and Frank Smyth, CPJ's senior
security consultant, discuss the threats facing journalists and outline the
relevant steps journalists should take in considering their safety.

The guide, which was created in consultation with prominent
journalists such as Sebastian Junger, Umar Cheema, and Carolyn Cole, includes
six videos and also features guidelines on protecting digital information, preparing
for armed conflict, covering organized crime, and mitigating the risk of sexual
violence.

To continuously present journalists with up-to-date security
information, CPJ is also launching the Journalist
Security Blog, a platform that features posts by CPJ and guest bloggers on
safer mobile use, first-aid training courses, and new ways to ensure journalist
safety.

On April 17, CPJ launched its 2012 global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free. The index showed that unsolved journalist murders have risen sharply in Mexico, continuing an alarming trend in the country. In addition, Pakistan's impunity rating worsened for the fourth straight year as authorities failed to bring prosecutions in journalist murders, including several with suspected government links.

Among the four worst nations in combating journalist murders--Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka--CPJ found virtually no sign of progress. But the index did chart improving conditions in Colombia and Nepal, along with a long-term decline in deadly, anti-press violence in Bangladesh that caused that country to drop off the list entirely.

The Impunity Index is part of CPJ's Global Campaign Against Impunity, which is supported by the Adessium Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Omidyar Network, and the Open Society Foundations.

Liberian journalist visits CPJ

CPJ welcomes Liberian journalist Mae Azango, who will be
visiting the CPJ offices in New York today. Azango is an award-winning journalist
who has been recognized for her reporting on reproductive issues by the U.S.-based
Pulitzer Center.

After Azango was threatened and forced into hiding last
month for reporting
on the widespread practice of female genital mutilation in her country, CPJ
used news reports and a social media campaign to extensively advocate
on her behalf. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon also wrote President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf a letter,
asking her to end the threats against Azango and protect her.

The Liberian government, which has remained silent on the
issue for years, responded to CPJ with a brief statement,
then finally declared
the temporary suspension of the practice. The government's decision to
publicize its stance on FGM was in direct response to both international
pressure and CPJ advocacy.

Spotlight on countries that curb commitment to press freedom

After delegates from Brazil, India, and Pakistan failed to
endorse the UNESCO Draft Plan
of Action on international efforts to combat anti-press violence last
month, CPJ expressed its dismay in a letter to Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff
and asked her to ensure that the government upheld its commitment to press
freedom.

CPJ representatives were present at the UNESCO meeting and
reacted publicly
to its outcome, drawing attention to the plan's potential derailment. A
Brazilian activist group, Associacao Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo, reposted CPJ's
letter, drawing even more attention to the issue, and local
media wasted no time in covering the story that Brazil, as a global leader with
major influence, had failed to combat anti-press violence. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted by arguing
that Brazil only opposed parts of the Plan of Action text and the procedure to
approve it.

The local media in Pakistan also picked up the story. An article
published by the English-language daily The News began: "The government showed
its true colour on the question of press freedom in a recent meeting of Unesco
in Paris." The article, which quoted CPJ Senior European Consultant Jean-Paul
Marthoz, spurred greater local press coverage over the country's objection to
the plan that would combat anti-press violence.

On April 13, the UNESCO Chief Executive Board approved the
Plan of Action despite Brazil and Pakistan's failure to endorse it.

Brazil, Pakistan, and India are listed for the second consecutive
year on CPJ's 2012 Impunity Index.

Two Somaliland journalists released

Earlier this month, Ahmed Ali Farah, a reporter for Royal
TV, was arrested in alleged violation of Somaliland law, and Abdisaman
Isse, a reporter for Universal TV, was taken into custody while visiting Farah.
When the authorities did not disclose the journalists' charges, the Somali
Journalist Association, in partnership with CPJ, met with government officials
and used CPJ's alert
to call for their release. The authorities released Farah and Isse without
condition.

CPJ provides support in Somalia

CPJ's Journalist Assistance program worked with a coalition
of international and regional groups to provide financial support for injured
journalists in Somalia after the Mogadishu
bombing this month. The explosion at a national theater killed about 10 people
and injured at least eight journalists. As several of the injured journalists remain
in critical condition, CPJ and its partners continue to work to ensure they
receive medical care. This support is part of an East Africa initiative, which
was launched in Nairobi
in December.

CPJ's IPFA winner receives UNESCO prize

Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev was
awarded the 2012 UNESCO/Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize in a joint nomination by CPJ and other partner
organizations. The UNESCO press prize, awarded on May 3, World Press Freedom
Day, is given to a person or organization that promotes or defends press
freedom around the world despite facing risks.

As the former editor of Azerbaijan's Realny Azerbaijan and Gundalik
Azarbaycanm, Fatullayev served a four-year prison sentence on fabricated libel
charges after reporting on his country's obstruction of justice in the murder
of his colleague, Elmar Huseynov. CPJ supported Fatullayev and his family
throughout his trial process until he received a presidential pardon in
2011.

In 2009, when CPJ honored Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla
Fatullayev with an International Press Freedom Award, he was unable to
receive it because he was in prison. In November 2011, Fatullayev walked on
stage as a free man and received his award.

Upcoming

On May 2, CPJ and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism
will host
a two-part panel on physical safety and digital security. Moderated by CBS
correspondent Lara Logan and Columbia digital guru Emily Bell, the panels will
feature well-known journalists discussing the pressing security issues facing members
of the news corps today.

On May 2, the day before World Press Freedom Day, CPJ will
release its much-awaited 10 Most Censored Countries list, which ranks the most
oppressive regimes in the world. The report, which updates the 2006
list, will highlight state-sponsored censorship as one of the largest threats
to journalists.

An auction
will be held on May 15 to support the family of freelance photographer Anton
Hammerl by the nonprofit Friends of Anton. Hammerl was shot and killed by
government forces in Libya on April 5, 2011.

Donate

CPJ's Distress Fund provides emergency grants to journalists
facing persecution for their work. Support our work and give a gift today.